Gichin Funakoshi Quotes
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There is no place in contemporary Karate-do for different schools. Some instructors, I know, claim to have invented new and unusual kata, and so they arrogate to themselves the right to be called founders of "schools". Indeed, I have heard myself and my colleagues referred to as the Shoto-kan school, but I strongly object to this attempt at classification. My belief is that all these "schools" should be amalgamated into one so that Karate-do may pursue and orderly and useful progress into man's future.
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You may train for a long time, but if you merely move your hands and feet and jump up and down like a puppet, learning karate is not very different from learning a dance. You will never have reached the heart of the matter; you will have failed to grasp the quintessence of karate-do.
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In karate, hitting, thrusting, and kicking are not the only methods, throwing techniques and pressure against joints are included … all these techniques should be studied referring to basic kata
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One of the most striking features of karate is that it may be engaged in by anybody, young or old, strong or weak, male or female.
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Hoping to see karate included in the universal physical education taught in our public schools, I set about revising the kata so as to make them as simple as possible. Times change, the world changes, and obviously the martial arts must change too. The karate that high school students practice today is not the same karate that was practiced even as recently as ten years ago [this book was written in 1956], and it is a long way indeed from the karate I learned when I was a child in Okinawa.
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Only through training will a person learn his own weaknesses... He who is aware of his weaknesses will remain master of himself in any situation.
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When there are no avenues of escape or one is caught even before any attempt to escape can be made, then for the first time the use of self-defense techniques should be considered. Even at times like these, do not show any intention of attacking, but first let the attacker become careless. At that time attack him concentrating one's whole strength in one blow to a vital point and in the moment of surprise, escape and seek shelter and help.
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In the past, it was expected that about three years were required to learn a single kata, and usually even an expert of considerable skill would only know three, or at most five, kata.
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Once a kata has been learned, it must be practised repeatedly until it can be applied in an emergency, for knowledge of just the sequence of a kata in karate is useless.
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Try to do exactly as you are taught without complaining or quibbling.
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To search for the old is to understand the new.
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You must be deadly serious in training. When I say that, I do not mean that you should be reasonably diligent or moderately in earnest. I mean that your opponent must always be present in your mind, whether you sit or stand or walk or raise your arms.
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Any man will be able, after sufficient practice, to accomplish remarkable feats of strength, but he may go only so far and no farther. There is a limit to human physical strength that no one can exceed.
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Remember that you must always have a deep regard for courtesy, and you must be respectful and obedient toward your seniors.
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When you leave your home, think that you have numerous opponents waiting for you (it is your behavior that invites trouble from them).
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Karate-do begins with courtesy and ends with rei.
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When you are learning a new technique, practice it wholeheartedly until you truly understand it.
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First know yourself, then know others.
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Karate is like boiling water: without heat, it returns to it's tepid state
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The correct understanding of Karate and its proper use is Karate-do. One who truly trains in this do [way] and actually understands Karate-do is never easily drawn into a fight.
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Karate is a defensive art from beginning to end.
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Karate begins and ends with courtesy.
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A student well versed in even one technique will naturally see corresponding points in other techniques. A upper level punch, a lower punch, a front punch and a reverse punch are all essentially the same. Looking over thirty-odd kata, he should be able to see that they are essentially variations on just a handful.
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It is important that karate can be practiced by the young and old, men and women alike.
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The spirit of karate practice and the elements of training are applicable to each and every aspect of our daily lives.
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To practice kata is not to memorize an order. Find the katas that work for you, understand them, digest them & stick with them for life.
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You must ignore the bad and adopt the good.
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Beginners must master low stance and posture, natural body positions are for the advanced.
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True karate is this: that in daily life one's mind and body be trained and developed in a spirit of humility, and that in critical times, one be devoted utterly to the cause of justice.
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Put Karate into your everyday living, that is how you will see true beauty.
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